Rhetorical Appeals

The ways that

writers/speakers/photographers get
readers’ attention…
 Rhetorical appeals
• The aspects of a piece of writing or a visual
that influence the reader because of:
– The credibility of the author (ethos)
– The appeal to a reader’s logic (logos)
– An appeal to the reader’s emotions (pathos)
• Rhetorical Appeals are the main tools of
persuasion.
 Ethos works by
establishing
credibility with the
audience.
 “You should believe me because I’m
trustworthy.”
--Honest Abe

Ethos or Ethical appeals:

 Ethos
• Ethos is an ethic appeal
• It attempts to convince the audience by the character of the author. We
tend to believe people whom we respect.
• One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an
impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in
other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject
of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.
• This can be done by:
• Demonstrating a level of expertise (well researched papers)
• Being an expert (Doctor, Lawyer, Actor etc.)
• Avoiding excessive emotion & being likeable
 Ethos Analysis Questions
• What implicit or explicit claim is being made?
• How does the ad show credibility and
trustworthiness to the intended audience?
• Does the ad reflect areas of expertise in some
form or another? In what ways has this
ad/product/author given the impression that we
should listen to them?
• In what way are we convinced ethically or by the
character of the product?
• Logical appeals work by appealing to the
reason of your audience.
– “You should agree with me because I’m reasonable.”
– “You should listen to me because I have statistics.”

Logos or Logical Appeals

 So – Logos…
•  Logos means persuading by the use of reasoning.
• Using effective and persuasive reasons to back up your
claims.
• This can be done by:
– Facts – Numbers, statistics, data, science-stuff, research
– Logic – the text has well-reasoned ideas
• Uses sources:
– Surveys, interviews, the stuff that represents groups of
people and their opinions
– Acknowledge and refute differing view points
• Is the easies of the 3 rhetorical appeals to identify (it sounds
like logic)
 Logos Analysis Questions
• What claim is being made, either explicitly stated or
implied?
• In what ways does the ad appeal to the logic of its
audience? Are there numbers, facts, data? Are the
ideas well-reasoned? How?
• How do design elements—layout, font sizes and styles,
and use of color—influence the effect of the
argument?
• How do graphics and images contribute to the
persuasiveness of the claim/ad?
 Pathos - Emotional Appeals:
• An emotional appeal works by playing on the
feelings of your audience.

“You should agree with me because of how this

makes you feel.”

Every time you skip a homework

Assignment, you make the
Puppies cry. . .
 Pathos
• By appealing to emotions, a writer
works to get an emotional reaction
from the audience.
• This can be done by:
• Using personal anecdotes
• Emotional quotes
• Visuals (useful to all appeals,
but particularly useful here)
• Editorial/evocative language
 Pathos Analysis Questions
• What claim is being made, either explicitly stated or
implied?
• In what way does this ad appeal to its audience’s
emotions?
• What language choices persuades the audiences’
emotional reaction?
• How do design elements—layout, font sizes and styles,
and use of color—influence the effect of the
argument/claim?
 Presenting a case: • Writers use:
• Ethos – to make readers
• Rhetorical appeals: relate to them and believe
them; ethos has to do with
the character of the writer
ethos • Pathos – emotions; this
appeal focuses on the
reader’s heart and not the
head
• Logos – think logic; using
evidence and appealing to
pathos logos the reason of the reader
1) I can say, based on my personal research as a geneticist, that the more we
learn about degenerative brain disorders, the better off we’ll be curing all
kinds of diseases.
2) You have no idea what it’s like. Degenerative means falling
apart. I watch my brother have to relearn the simplest things, day
after day. Yesterday, he forgot how to tie his shoes. If we could just
fund more research, so many lives would be benefitted.
3) The probability that we will learn more about the entire
human body and the nature of all brain diseases by simply studying
specific degenerative diseases has been made obvious by the
research being conducted at the NIH. More of this research will
yield more results. It’s that simple. Listen to the data.

Which is which?
How is this advertisement trying to appeal to
you?
… and this one?
… and this one?
 Appeals Application
Ad Assignment Guidelines:
• --Create three separate ads for each different
rhetorical appeal—Ethos, Pathos and Logos
• --Do each different appeal on a separate slide in
a powerpoint doc
• --Following each ad you create and on a separate
slide, do the accompanying appeal analysis
questions (see slides 5, 8 and 11 of this ppt) for
that distinctive appeal.
 Getting Started …
• To get started search for photos on google
images
• -- create an ad for each different appeal to try
to sell something or promote a cause or idea
• --Create your own text to reflect each
individual appeal
• --Your ads will be due to moodle before our
next class
 FYI:

• Rhetorical Appeals are discussed in depth on

the Purdue OWL website:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/04/